October 1, 2008

     My brother, who is an investment counselor, says that lately he hates to go to work in the morning and read the headlines in the Wall Street Journal. I recently developed my own headline reading system. First I sidle up to the newspaper, which Bill has laid out on the coffee table. I look at it sideways. Are there big headlines? (Bad.) Or little, article headlines? (Not so bad, but probably not good either).

     This TOUR THE SITES issue has several items about personal finances, which are being affected by the ongoing financial crisis. Plus we’ve got some good escapist stuff. Such as “Pooch Plunge,” which is absolutely delightful, and watching TV on our computer screens, which is now possible in a number of ways.

     And, incidentally, this issue marks the third anniversary of TOUR THE SITES.

     Janette

----Table Of Contents----

1. Getting The News Fast
2. Hope For Homeowners Still Long In Coming
3. Online Scams Milk Financial Crisis
4. An Absolutely Safe Investment With A 36% Return
5. Pooch Plunge!
6. Installing A Husband
7. Watching TV On Your Computer Screen
8. Courageous Recipes From Epicourageous
9. How To Get The Seeds Out Of A Pomegranate
10. Country Living Recipes
11. Five Ways To Beef Up Your Brain
12. Watch Your Wallet!
13. Are You A Genius?
14. Learn Speed Reading For Free
15. More Free E-Books

1. GETTING THE NEWS FAST

     IF YOU’RE IN A HURRY to get the news, whether it be about a hurricane, a stock market crisis, whatever: you don’t have to watch for hours as the wind blows through some TV weather reporter’s hair. Nor do you have to put up with a bunch of ads before the hard news comes on. All you need to do is type “news.google.com” into your computer. GOOGLE NEWS will give you the latest news updates minute by minute, as they are posted online by newspapers all over the world. It’s fast, it’s easy, and you can follow the articles to get as much detail as you want. Remember, television news only gives the highlights. Newspaper articles GIVE YOU THE FULL SCOPE OF INFORMATION.

http://news.google.com/

2. HOPE FOR HOMEOWNERS STILL LONG IN COMING

     The law that’s supposed to help homeowners with troubled mortgages took effect October 1. Is it really going to help? Here’s the status as of last week:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/
09/27/AR2008092700418.html?hpid=sec-business

3. ONLINE SCAMS MILK FINANCIAL CRISIS

     MICHELLE SINGLETARY says, “This is prime time for scams, bogus business opportunities, and questionable advice.” Her COLOR OF MONEY financial advice column is always right on the money, and this post has the right timing too. It includes helpful tips on protecting your investments in a time of financial turmoil.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/
2008/09/17/AR2008091703013.html

4. AN ABSOLUTELY SAFE INVESTMENT WITH A 36% RETURN

     JOHN CHOW explains it all:

http://www.johnchow.com/how-to-make-36-return-risk-free/

     And please note that the archive has some great sites with financial helps for families. Go to “FINANCES, TAXES, BUSINESS” in the lefthand column. Click on “Money Management Aids” and “Small Savings Add Up.”

5. POOCH PLUNGE!

     At the end of each summer swimming season, just before the pool is drained, Fort Collins, Colorado, has its annual POOCH PLUNGE, where every dog has its day. AND HAPPINESS IS WATCHING A BUNCH OF POOCHES HAVE THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES!

http://revver.com/video/384802/pooch-plunge-2007-pool-dog-dance-party/

6. INSTALLING A HUSBAND

     Upgrading from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 results in a number of technical problems.

http://www.keithgoodrum.com/and-i-thought-windows-vista-had-issues/

7. WATCHING TV ON YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN

     There are now a number of ways you can do this. This page tells how to do it using TVUPLAYER, with which “you can watch channels from all over the world, including live channels.” It is free. And notice that they previously reviewed JOOST and ANYTV.

http://blogs.howtogeek.com/mysticgeek/2008/09/19/
weekend-fun-watch-television-on-your-pc-with-tvuplayer/

     A few months ago I reviewed a big site, years in the making, that also enables you to watch tv and movies on your computer. It’s HULU.COM, it’s ad supported, and you can read the review by going to HUMOR, ENTERTAINMENT in the column at left. Then click on “Worldwide TV, Radio, And Movie Listings.” That section also lists 28,000 movie reviews, from the NEW YORK TIMES, including all reviewed since 1960 and what they consider the 1,000 best ever made.

8. COURAGEOUS RECIPES FROM EPICOURAGEOUS

     RON and MARTHA say that they’ve collected recipes for years. Every so often they weed the collection, saving only the best. These are the best of the best.

     Don’t confuse this site with EPICURIOUS, which has the collected recipes of Gourmet and Bon Apetit magazines. EPICOURAGEOUS is just Ron and Martha, but at their best:

http://www.geocities.com/epicourageous/

     On the other hand, if you want the gourmet recipe collection of EPICURIOUS, just click below:

http://www.epicurious.com/

9. HOW TO GET THE SEEDS OUT OF A POMEGRANATE

     I love pomegranates and have developed my own, private system for eating them. It involves a knife, a towel down my front, and no one else looking. You do not want to know how I do it. Instead, you want to find out how the experts do it. Easy, isn’t it, once you know how?

http://emptyage.honan.net/mth/2007/10/how-to-eat-a-po.html

10. COUNTRY LIVING RECIPES

     Some of the recipes are really good AND good for you, like “Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries”:

http://www.countryliving.com/recipefinder/recipe/Oven-Baked_Sweet_Potato_Fries/rf/477

     But if you’re looking for the recipe of a cake that will astonish people, click on their “Amazing Cake Recipes” section, which includes winners from the Mom’s Best Cake contest:

http://www.countryliving.com/recipefinder/best-recipes/amazing-cake-recipes/

     Or click on this winning recipe for “Praline Turtle Cake”:

http://www.countryliving.com/recipefinder/
praline-turtle-cake-3611?click=recipe_sr

11. FIVE WAYS TO BEEF UP YOUR BRAIN

     Eating those omega-3 fatty acids that prevent Alzheimer’s and make your brain gain is one good way to improve your mind. So let me mention that you can get omega-3s in inexpensive fish-oil capsules you take each day – in case you become tired of the diet of salmon, walnuts, and kiwi fruit recommended by the article.

http://www.livescience.com/health/080815-top5-brain-health.html

     HOW ABOUT TAKING FLAX SEED OIL for omega-3s? Does flax seed cause prostate cancer? Read a good discussion of this on the popular health blog, MARK’S DAILY APPLE:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/flax-prostate-cancer-risk/

12. WATCH YOUR WALLET!

     Watch your wallet when it comes to the fad of putting omega-3s into all sorts of products. I was started on this topic by an ad for Kellogg’s Live Bright™ Health Bars, with omega-3 fats, which bars cost more than $4 each from Amazon, probably still more if you go to a “brain games” house party. The bars contain only 100 mg. of omega-3s each. One inexpensive fish oil capsule has 1,000 mg. Three ounces of canned salmon has 1,200. These health bars do have the advantage of dark chocolate, which is not only good for you but tastes extremely delicious. And, hey, if you don’t mind the cost, get a bunch. But do read the following article first: